Worlds is locked on patch 26.20, and the replay change got pushed back

Patch 26.20 went live on October 7 and it's the last patch before Worlds, which starts October 16. Riot said they're pretty happy with the meta, so this one is more of a trim than a shake-up. Buffs went to Diana, Kennen, Kindred, Lillia, Lucian, Mordekaiser, Neeko, Smolder, Tahm Kench, Vayne and Swain. Nerfs hit Ambessa, Ashe, Cassiopeia, K'Sante and Yunara. On items, Experimental Hexplate and Runaan's Hurricane got nerfed, and Rocketbelt gives up some ability haste for a stronger active. Planned Varus and Sylas changes were pulled. The bigger fight was replays. The original 26.20 plan made them basically private: you could only download replays of games you played in, and third-party sites would lose replay downloads completely. Coaches, analysts and creators who study other people's games pushed back hard, and Riot delayed it to 26.21 while they work on something for them.

Random fact while we're here: the Worlds anthem this year is True Damage with "Know My Name", their first new song since GIANTS in 2019.

I'm not a ranked grinder, I just watch a lot of pro play, and that's exactly why the replay thing matters to me. Half of what I understand about this game comes from people breaking down other people's games. Delaying it is the right call, but it still ships next patch, so it's a pause, not a win.